Fallen
by Sexysaxist
Summary: Songfic to Fallen by Sarah McLachlan. Rin gets sick and teaches Sesshomaru a few things about himself, his family and tensaiga's power. Not a romance, but cute fluff. Oneshot


A/N I really like song fics. I'm a musician and lyrics to songs that I love often inspire stories and they help guide and focus my thoughts and the plot. So on that note, this lil' fic is to Fallen by Sarah McLachlan with a Sesshomaru/Rin pairing, but not a romance. I don't do pedophilia.

"_Heaven bent to take my hand  
And lead me through the fire.  
Be the long awaited answer  
To a long and painful fight_"

Sesshomaru glanced down at the child he had cradled in his tail, cuddled to his chest. He never thought this would happen. Rin had fallen ill, which was nothing new, but this time she was seriously sick and Sesshomaru was forced to acknowledge she needed help, more help than he could give her. He was headed towards the Bone Eaters well, in truth in hopes of finding Inuyasha's companion. If not her then the old priestess from the nearby village. There were closer human settlements but those two, he knew, would not harm Rin out of animosity for him.

"_Truth be told I've tried my best  
But somewhere along the way  
I got caught up in all there was to offer  
And the cost was so much more than I could pay_"

Sesshomaru wasn't sure how it had come to this. He despised humans, they were vermin, and here he was seeking them out to help a human child. His human child. Why he didn't deposit Rin at the first village he came to after he saved her hedidn't know, but she was his now. His devotion to Rin's wellbeing both surprised and unsettled him. He didn't know why he tolerated her when she only slowed him down, smelled and now got sick, nor did he know why she followed him when she could leave at any time. Her abduction made it patently obvious to both of them that they preferred to stay together. Sesshomaru was only now beginning to grasp the magnitude of Rin's impact on his life.

"_Though I've tried, I've fallen  
I have sunk so low  
I've messed up  
Better I should know  
So don't come around here  
And tell me I told you so_"

It disgusted him to admit he was becoming much like his brother, catering to the whims and needs of a human girl, though Rin was not nearly the pain that Kagome was. Just look at him, carrying Rin so she would be more comfortable. The girl had a sore throat, was hot to the touch and her breathing was labored. She had been riding Aun, and when she was too tired to sit up, she tied herself to the two headed animal and fell asleep on its back, trusting Aun to follow Sesshomaru. He only noticed her because of an odd clicking noise from her teeth that usually indicated she was very cold. So he unwrapped his long fluffy tail and made a sort of sling for her to sleep in, pressed close to the warmth of his chest.

"_We all begin with good intent  
When love was raw and young  
We believe that we can change ourselves  
The past can be undone  
But we carry on our backs a burden  
Time always reveals.  
In the lonely light of morning  
The wounds that will not heal  
It's the bitter taste of losing everything I've held so dear_"

The tensaiga had been humming softly to its master ever since Rin fell ill, but Sesshomaru had no idea what his fickle sword was trying to tell him. Why was this thing his? Why had his father made what so obviously seemed like a mistake? Sesshomaru was the more powerful son, why did Inuyasha get the tetsusaiga? He had a niggling feeling in the back of his head that his father was trying to teach him something from his grave. His father was way too deliberate for these gifts to be random. Tensaiga was meant for him. Sesshomaru had never felt so useless as he did now. A sword of healing. What was a killer supposed to do with a sword that would not kill? What purpose did his father have in training him to be strong then giving him a useless weapon?

Rin shifted in her makeshift sling and cracked open her eyes.

"Lord Sesshomaru, your sword is singing."

"Yes, I know."

"It wants to fix me."

"_I've fallen  
I have sunk so low  
I've messed up  
Better I should know  
So don't come around here  
And tell me I told you so_"

Could that be it? Did tensaiga want to heal Rin's illness? The implications were incredible. If tensaiga could heal disease as well as cheat death, it was indeed powerful. But not in his hand. He did not care for humans enough to worry about their wellbeing except for Rin. He was better suited at wiping out the scourge of the world and increasing his power. Leave the foolish rescuing to Inuyasha. That niggling feeling of a lesson came back.

"_Heaven bent to take my hand  
Nowhere left to turn  
I've lost all those I thought were friends  
To everyone I know.  
Oh they turn their heads embarrassed  
Pretend that they don't see  
But it's one misstep and slip before you know it  
And there doesn't seem a way to be redeemed_."

Sesshomaru pulled out tensiaga and held the blade to Rin's throat. The sword was tugging at his hand, as though it itched to plunge into her.

"Why Tensaiga? What are you trying to tell me?"

Rin shifted against his chest and impaled her throat on Tensaiga's tip. The sword began to glow and shudder as it contacted her infected flesh. She wrapped her tiny hands around the blade and held it to her, while its magic worked in her sickened body.

When the glow subsided Rin pulled the sword tip out and cradled the blade in her arms. She nuzzled her cheek into the hollow of his chest. A puff of no longer fetid breath tickled his chin

"To care for me." Rin's sleepy voice croaked

"Hmm?" Sesshomaru forgot what she was talking about.

"It wants you to take care of me. Tetsusaiga wants Inuyasha to be strong. You are already strong. You are supposed to take care of me."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not a demon."

Sesshomaru raised his eyebrows waiting for her to continue her disjointed explanation, but she'd gone back to sleep. _Because I'm not a demon? _What did that mean? Of course she wasn't a demon, she was….

Oh

Out of the mouth of babes. Sesshomaru thought back to when his father had the swords made. Inuyasha was just barely in his adolescence. Sesshomaru had been leading his father's army for some time by then. Inuyasha was a weakling and Sesshomaru distained the whelp's human mother. He distained all humans for that matter and never understood what his father had seen in the pitiful woman.

Was that the point his father was trying to make? He needed to learn to care for humans? Inuyasha needed to learn strength? Could it be as simple as that?

"_Though I've tried I've fallen  
I have sunk so low  
I've messed up  
Better I should know  
So don't come round here  
And tell me I told you so_."

What had Sesshomaru become in his father's eyes that it took him so long to see why he got tensaiga? And Rin saw the answer in a fevered sleep. Their father wanted them to become more alike. Sesshomaru was to learn Inuyasha's compassionate nature and Inuyasha was to learn Sesshomaru's cool strength. Though he didn't understand what exactly he was supposed to do, he supposed healing Rin was as good a start as any. How tensaiga would help him in battle he had yet to learn, but now that he understood, he could make a start.

Sesshomaru wrapped his one good arm around Rin and tucked her head under his chin. He had fallen so low in his quest for power. How he must have disappointed his father that he had to keep teaching from the grave. A child of mere seven was so wise.

"Thank you for fixing me Lord Sesshomaru"

"You're welcome Rin."

A/N please review. Sesshomaru is a difficult character to write as he is so internal and complex. I would like to know how I'm doing with him. Please Please Please let me know. Thanks


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